Supplementary Obituaries

ADAMS, SIDNEY CLARKE, was killed while crossing the Rhine with Allied forces on March 24, 1945, aged 40. He was a council clerk and leg-spinner who took wickets with his first two balls in first-class cricket, playing for Northamptonshire against Dublin University in 1926. Adams had scored 87 earlier in the game and finished with figures of six for 32. His first wicket was that of Samuel Beckett, later winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Adams's later career was less illustrious than his victim's, though he played nine more games for the county.

ANDERSON, JOHN HENRY, who died on March 11, 1926, aged 51, captained South Africa in his only Test, against Australia at Johannesburg in 1902-03. "Biddy" Anderson made 32 but South Africa were heavily beaten; he was the only member of the side left out of the next Test. He played regularly for Western Province between 1894 and 1907; his only century, 109 against Border in 1903-04, exceeded the combined total of both Border innings (55 and 52).

ATTEWELL, WALTER, who died on February 3, 1919, aged 54, played one match for Nottinghamshire in 1891 but was better known as a wandering coach who worked in Philadelphia in the 1890s and, from 1906 to 1912, at Shrewsbury School where he was assisted by Neville Cardus. However, in his Autobiography Cardus appears to confuse Attewell with his more famous cousin William.

BAGGULEY, ROBERT, who died on October 8, 1946, aged 73, was only 17 and 5ft 3in tall when he made an outstanding debut for Nottinghamshire in 1891. On a good wicket against Sussex at Hove, he took six for 74 bowling left-arm slow-medium. He also scored one brilliant century, 110 against Sussex at Trent Bridge in 1895, which included 102 on the second morning. Otherwise, his form was patchy.

BENSKIN, WILLIAM EWART, who died in Leicester on June 1, 1956, aged 76, was a fast-medium bowler whose first wickets in first-class cricket were a hat-trick: he finished off the Essex first innings on his debut for Leicestershire at Southend in 1906. He played 105 games in all up to 1924 for Leicestershire and, briefly, Scotland.

BESTWICK, ROBERT SAXTON, who died on July 3, 1980, aged 80, played five matches for Derbyshire in the early 1920s, two of them in the same team as his father, the fast bowler Bill Bestwick. For six overs against Warwickshire at Derby in 1922, Bestwick father and son bowled together against W. G. Quaife and his son, a unique occurrence in first-class cricket.

BROMLEY, ERNEST HARVEY, died at Clayton, Victoria, aged 54, on February 1, 1967. "Slogger" Bromley was a Western Australian who moved to Victoria and played twice in Ashes Tests: at Brisbane during the "Bodyline" series of 1932-33 when Australian cricket was in disarray, and again at Lord's in 1934. He ensured selection for that tour by scoring a superb 161 for Victoria against South Australia in 1933-34. His nickname was not ironic: he was an attacking bat with a weakness outside off stump. However, it was his fielding, and his throwing arm in particular, that was outstanding. In his four Test innings he scored only 38 but he continued playing for Victoria until the war, scoring 2,055 runs in 52 matches, averaging 28.54. He bowled occasional left-arm spin.

BROWN, EDWARD, who died on April 14, 1978, aged 66, was a right-arm fast-medium bowler from Darlington who played 28 matches for Warwickshire between 1932 and 1934. He was successful early on and, after taking eight for 35 against Surrey in 1933, was awarded his cap. He also played cricket for Durham and Northumberland and professional soccer for the Swiss club Servette.

BURTON, FREDERICK JOHN, died on August 25, 1929. It is now thought he was born in Collingwood, Victoria, on November 2, 1865, and was thus 63. He was chosen to keep wicket for Australia in the Second Test of the 1886-87 series when Jack Blackham was unavailable. Blackham returned for the only Test of the following season but Burton was retained as a batsman even though his career average was only 15 - he was out for one in each innings. His best score was 47 for New South Wales against Victoria in 1887-88 when he batted three hours and helped Harry Moses in a stand of 185; Moses went on to make 297. Burton later settled in New Zealand and died in Wanganui.

CAREW, GEORGE McDONALD, who died on December 9, 1974, aged 64, was a right-hand batsman from Barbados who scored a brilliant 107 for West Indies against England at Port-of-Spain in 1947-48. Chewing gum and wearing a felt hat, he put on 173 for the first wicket with Andy Ganteaume. He did little in his other three Tests but scored consistently for Barbados, where he was a well-known character and ran a taxi business.

CHOWDHURY, NIRODE RANJAN, died on December 14, 1979, aged 56, at Durgapur, where he was coach at the local steel plant. Chowdhury, the first Test cricketer from the state of Bihar, was a slightly-built but lively medium-paced off-spinner who played one Test for India in 1948-49 and another one three years later. He was picked to tour England in 1952 but hardly figured. His best analysis came in his first game in the Ranji Trophy, in 1941-42, when he took seven for 79 for Bihar against Bengal.

CLODE, HARRY PILE, who died on October 19, 1964, aged 87, appeared 40 times for Surrey between 1899 and 1903 as a right-arm slow bowler and later became professional with Wearmouth and played Minor Counties cricket for Durham. His son, H. P. Clode jun., followed him into the Durham side.

COTTAM, JOHN THOMAS, who died from typhoid, aged 29, in Western Australia on January 30, 1897, was one of five men drafted in to the Australian Test team at Sydney in 1886-87 because several established players had demanded, and been refused, payment for loss of earnings from their regular jobs. Cottam was 19 and had played only one first-class game for New South Wales against England, and even for that he was a last-minute choice. In the Test he was out for one and three and never played for Australia again. He never even played Sheffield Shield cricket though he did tour New Zealand with a state team in 1889-90, batting well on bad wickets- He was reported to be a powerfully-built man, a stylish bat and a popular performer; his drift away from cricket in the eight years before his death remains a mystery.

DARTMOUTH, WILLIAM HENEAGE LEGGE, the 6th EARL OF, who died at his home in Staffordshire, Patshull House, on March 11, 1936, aged 84, was President of MCC in 1893. Under his courtesy title, Lord Lewisham, he played a first-class match for an indifferent MCC team against Hampshire at Lord's in 1877. He also played for Shropshire and Staffordshire and was MP for West Kent and then Lewisham. His grandson married Raine McCorquodale, who later married Earl Spencer and became the Princess of Wales's stepmother.

DENTON, ARTHUR DONALD, died on January 23, 1961, aged 64. Don Denton was a middle-order batsman for Northamptonshire who showed great promise in four matches in 1914 but lost part of a leg during the First World War. He also played three matches after the war, batting with a runner. The Lancashire captain, approached for special permission, wrote: "If any fellow has been to the war and has had his leg off and wants to play, he is good enough for me and can have 20 runners-" His two elder brothers, the twins Jack and Billy Denton, also played for the county either side of the war.

DONNAN, HENRY, was one of Australia's longest-lived Test cricketers and was three months short of his 92nd birthday when he died near Sydney on August 13, 1956. He was also connected to one of Australian cricket's greatest families: he married Syd Gregory's sister. Harry Donnan was a slightly-built man who relied on timing rather than power in his batting. Initially he was regarded as a bowler but an innings of 87 not out for New South Wales against an Australian XI established his credentials. He did not make his Test debut until January 1892 and was unsuccessful in that game and again at Adelaide, where he was a late replacement. However, he had a magnificent season in 1895-96 and was an automatic choice for the 1896 tour of England, where he played in all three Tests, though again not with much success - the highest score in any of his five Tests was 15 at Old Trafford. However, he made 167, his best-ever score, against Derbyshire, where his family originated. Donnan worked for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company for 42 years until he retired in 1923. His pension cost the firm dear, since he lived for another 33 years.

DUCKFIELD, RICHARD GEORGE, died on December 30, 1959, aged 52. Dick Duckfield was a right-handed batsman from Maesteg who scored an "excellent" - Wisden's word - century for the Players against the Gentlemen at The Oval in 1934, reaching 106 in only two hours, against a substandard attack. On the same ground two years later he scored 280 not out against Surrey, the highest score then made for Glamorgan. Otherwise, his form was ordinary; he retired in 1938 having scored exactly 7,000 runs, average 26.61.

DUNELL, OWEN ROBERT, who died at Lyons, France on October 21, was South Africa's first captain, leading the team in the match of dubious standard against England at Port Elizabeth in 1888-89 that is now accepted as South Africa's first Test. Dunell played only one other first-class game outside the two Tests on this tour, when he led a Port Elizabeth team against Natal in December 1889. He was born in Port Elizabeth, and later went into business there but was educated at Oxford and Eton, where he played no cricket but excelled at tennis.

ELLIOTT, HAROLD, who died on April 15, 1969, aged 64, played only one first-class match, in 1930 for Lancashire as a wicket-keeper. Since he was third choice behind Duckworth and Farrimond, he had little chance of a playing career. However, in 1939 Elliott joined the first-class umpires' list, and stood in 245 Championship matches, and seven Tests between 1950 and 1953. He was a small, bespectacled man who habitually umpired in a trilby hat.

FARGUS, Rev. ARCHIBALD HUGH CONWAY, who died on October 6, aged 84, has been obituarised before in Wisden. However, this was 48 years before his death. The 1915 edition said Fargus had gone down with the Monmouth, the ship on which he was acting-chaplain, in action in the Pacific. But he had missed a train and failed to rejoin the ship. Fargus, whose father Hugh Conway was a well-known Victorian author, won a Cambridge Blue in 1900 and 1901 and played 15 games for Gloucestershire. His actual death was not reported in the Almanack.

FENLEY, STANLEY, who died on September 2, 1976, aged 76, was a leg-spinner who played as an amateur for Surrey in 1924 while on leave from work in the Gold Coast and was so successful that he stayed on as a professional. He played 116 matches in the 1920s and made a brief comeback for Hampshire, aged 39. He took 346 wickets in all.

FOTHERGILL, ARNOLD JAMES, who died on August 1, 1932, aged 77, played twice for England in South Africa in 1888-89 in the games that were later designated as the first Tests between the two countries, though they were arguably not even first-class. Born in Northumberland, he was a left-arm fast bowler who migrated to the emerging Somerset club, which engaged Fothergill and Alfred Brooks of Nottinghamshire as its first professionals. Technically, he was not qualified: in 1881 Kent objected to his presence and he had to drop out of the side even though he was the club's best bowler. Somerset were accepted as first-class in 1882 and Fothergill, safely qualified, was their most productive bowler for the next two seasons. He was also taken on to the Lord's staff and played much of his cricket for MCC before Major Gardner Warton took him on his pioneering tour of South Africa- In the two Tests, he scored 33, average 16.50, and took eight wickets for 90. He is then believed to have returned to Tyneside.

GAUKRODGER, GEORGE WARRINGTON, who died on January 4, 1938, aged 60, was a Yorkshireman who came to county cricket after living for some years in Belfast. He succeeded Tom Straw as Worcestershire wicket-keeper and appeared in 114 matches between 1900 and 1910. He also played international football for Northern Ireland, against Wales in 1894-95.

GLADSTONE, GEORGE, who died on May 19, 1978, aged 77, was a left-arm spinner who played once for West Indies, against England at Kingston in 1929-30. He was called up after only one match for Jamaica, in which he had match figures of nine for 252 against MCC. However, he took one for 189 in the Test and never played first-class cricket again. He remained a stalwart of the Railways Cricket Club for more than 30 years. His birth certificate says his name was George Gladstone Morals.

HARTKOPF, Dr ALBERT ERNST VICTOR, died at Kew, Victoria on May 20, 1968, aged 78. He played one Test for Australia, against England at Melbourne in 1924-25. Batting at No. 8. he made 80. However, Australia were not short of runs and Hartkopf had been chosen to bowl leg-breaks: his match figures of one for 134 were not what they wanted and he was never picked again. He was a successful all-rounder for Victoria over many seasons, scoring 1,758 runs (average 34.47) and taking 121 wickets at 30.79. He was a general practitioner in Melbourne.

HAWKWOOD, CLIFFORD, died on May 15, 1960, aged 50. "Chick" Hawkwood was a stalwart for the Lancashire League club Nelson and played 24 games for Lancashire, one of them the Roses match at Headingley in 1933. After three star Lancashire batsmen had fallen cheaply, Hawkwood put on 200 in 175 minutes with J. L. Hopwood, despite needing a runner because of sciatica. Hawkwood made 113 and Neville Cardus said in the Manchester Guardian that it was "one of the most courageous innings played for Lancashire by a young cricketer for ages". In his Autobiography, Cardus claimed that the Yorkshire bowler Emmott Robinson spent the day muttering "Hey, dear, dear, dear, what's t'matter, what's t'matter?" It was Hawkwood's only century.

HEARNE, THOMAS JOHN, who died on May 25, 1947, aged 59, was called late to take part in his only first-class match, for Middlesex against the Gentlemen of Philadelphia at Lord's in 1908, as a replacement for his cousin J. T. Hearne. However, the game was played on a treacherous pitch and finished in a day; Hearne, arriving late afternoon, never took the field. Many of his relatives were better-known cricketers; he did play usefully for Berkshire.

HONE, LELAND, who was born in Dublin and died there, aged 43, on December 31, 1896, was an old Rugbeian and a member of a well-known Irish cricketing family. He became the first player from outside the first-class counties to represent England when he was taken to Australia as a member of Lord Harris's largely amateur and quite unrepresentative party in 1878-79. Hone was obliged to keep wicket, and played in the only Test of the tour, scoring seven and six and taking two catches. He played only three first-class matches outside the tour, for MCC.

HULME, JOHN JOSEPH, who died on July 11, 1940, aged 78, was a left-arm fast-medium bowler who played 133 first-class matches for Derbyshire in a career that lasted between 1887 and 1903- He took nine for 27 in the second innings against Yorkshire at Sheffield in 1894.

KNUTTON, HERBERT JOHN, died at Bradford on December 12, 1946, aged 79. Jack Knutton had one day of cricketing glory when he came out of the Bradford League to skittle the 1902 Australians. No Australian game had been arranged for the date of King Edward VII's Coronation but when the King developed appendicitis and the festivities were postponed, the tourists hastily organised a match at Bradford against "an England XI". It included not a single Test player and Knutton was the only fast bowler. He clean bowled Noble, Hill and Darling in his second over, and though the Australians recovered and won by seven wickets, Knutton had first-innings figures of nine for 100 and dismissed Darling a second time to finish the game with ten for 117. Knutton, from Coventry, played just one other first-class match, for Warwickshire in 1894. But he took a thousand wickets in the Bradford League at high pace with an action sometimes regarded as suspect.

LILFORD, John Powys, 5th BARON, who died on December 17, 1945, aged 82, played one first-class match, for Northamptonshire against the Indians in 1911. He was a moderate but enthusiastic player who carried a ball round with him in the hope of some catching practice. He was also president of Northamptonshire for 18 years and its benefactor for almost half a century; without his support the club would undoubtedly have ceased to exist.

MAJOR, JOHN, who died at Wakefield, Yorkshire on December 31, 1930, aged 69, came to public attention as a professional right-handed batsman with an excellent style while playing Sussex Colts matches in 1888. However, he would have been a very elderly colt. Contemporary references said he was born in 1865; his birth certificate shows that he was actually four years older. Major played 11 first-class games for Sussex, averaging 17.28, scoring 106 against Gloucestershire in 1889. He played soccer for West Bromwich Albion and later joined the Warwickshire staff- On his death certificate, he was described as a "former general labourer".

MARX, WALDEMAR FREDERICK ERIC, died at Durban on June 2, 1974, aged 78. Eric Marx, educated at Malvern, was a right-hand batsman who made the highest score on a first-class debut, 240 for Transvaal against Griqualand West at Johannesburg in 1920-2L He made another Currie Cup century that season and played all three Tests against Australia in 1921-22 before disappearing from the first-class game, as suddenly as he had arrived.

MEINTJES, DOUGLAS JAMES, who died on July 17, 1979, aged 89, played two Tests for South Africa against England in 1922-23 as a fast-medium bowler who could bat. He took six wickets for 115 and all the wickets were top-order batsmen. Meintjes was picked for the South African tour of England in 1924 but was never close to the Test team. Later, he became secretary to the Wanderers Cricket Club and was South African manager in 1948-49.

MINNETT, Dr ROY BALDWIN, died at Manly, New South Wales, on October 21, 1955, aged 67. He had given up cricket aged 26 to devote himself to his career as a doctor. Before that he had established himself as a spirited batsman and lively fast-medium bowler, regarded as more talented than his two elder brothers who also played for New South Wales. He played the first of his nine Tests against England at Sydney in 1911-12 and raced to 90 in 111 minutes, overshadowing even Victor Trumper. He struggled on the slow, damp wickets in England in 1912 and when he came home played less often. However, he took ten wickets for 84 in his final first-class match, against Victoria in December 1914, including eight for 50 in the first innings.

MOLONY, TREVOR JAMES, who died at Cannes on September 3, 1962, aged 65, is thought to have been the last cricketer selected for a county as an underarm bowler. Molony appears to have taken only one wicket when he was in the Repton XI in 1915 and he did not bowl in the Cambridge Freshmen's Trial in 1920. However, Surrey chose him, apparently at the instigation of their captain P- G. H. Fender, against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in May 1921. According to a contemporary report, Molony bowled leg theory with only a mid-off on the off side. He bowled accurately, varied his flight and his "exceedingly good full tosses at an awkward height" caused the batsmen consternation- Payton and Barratt were caught on the boundary from wild leg-side heaves and Whysall took guard outside leg stump, and struck the ball over his head, tennis-smash style, straight to the only man on the off side. Molony was given only seven overs but he finished with three for 11 However, Surrey's enthusiasm for the experiment dimmed very rapidly. He bowled even less in his two other first-class matches and "the last of the lobsters" quickly disappeared from the first-class game though he did play for the Incogniti and Repton Pilgrims.

MORRIS, SAMUEL, who died on September 20, 1931, aged 76, was the first black Test cricketer and the only one to play for Australia. He was born in Tasmania, according to some reports the son of West Indian parents attracted by the gold-rush, became recognised as a wicket-keeper there and moved into first-class cricket as a batsman and medium-paced bowler after becoming appointed curator at the St Kilda ground in Melbourne. He played his only Test, at Melbourne in 1884-85, after the entire team from the previous Test had pulled out after a row about their share of the gate money. The team was predictably beaten buf Morris dismissed two of England's top three and opened the batting in the first innings, when he was out for four. He remained a regular player for Victoria for the next eight years. He was curator at South Melbourne for 30 years from 1887, giving up only when he lost his sight.

MOSS, Rev. REGINALD HEBER, who died on March 19, 1956, aged 88, played for Oxford, winning his Blue in 1889, and had one further first-class match for Liverpool and District in 1893. He then played one Championship game for Worcestershire, against Gloucestershire at Worcester, as a 57-year-old in 1925 and took a wicket and two catches. He was then rector of Icomb, near stow-on-the-Wold. The gap of 32 years between first-class appearances is a record.

NEWSTEAD, JOHN THOMAS, who died on March 25, 1952, aged 74, is the only Wisden Cricketer of the Year known to have died and not obituarised in the Almanack. Jack Newstead was chosen in 1909 after a spectacular season in 1908, when he took 140 wickets, at 16.50 each, and scored 927 runs. He played a major role in Yorkshire's return to the top of the County Championship and, had there been a Test series, would probably have played or England. However, this was the extent of his success. He had only just broken into the Yorkshire team after playing twice in 1903 and then joining the MCC staff. The following year, he quickly declined and in 1910 lost his place. Contemporaries described him as having a high and relaxed bowling action just above medium pace: he was regarded as a "talented but careless" batsman.

PARKER, GEORGE MACDONALD, who died in Thredbo, New South Wales on May 1, 1969, aged 69, was plucked from the Bradford League to play two Test matches for the outclassed 1924 South Africans in England- Born in Cape Town, he had been in England four years but had never played a first-:lass match before he was given a trial against Oxford. He took four wickets and had four catches dropped, though there was barely four hours play- The South Africans, desperately short of bowling, put him in the team for the First Test at Edgbaston. He took six for 152, including five on the opening day. "He bowled himself to a standstill," said Wisden, "and became so exhausted that he had to leave the field." In the Lord's Test, when England scored 531 for two, he took the only two wickets to fall - Hobbs and Sutcliffe - for 121. But he never played first-class cricket again and eventually settled in Australia.

RAVILIOUS, ERIC WILLIAM, was presumed dead after a Coastal command plane in which he was travelling disappeared on a flight from Iceland n September 1942. He was 39, and famous as a water-colour landscape artist and wood-engraver. Amongst his work is the colophon that has appeared on the front cover of Wisden since 1938.

ROBINSON, RAYFORD HAROLD, who died in his home town of Stockton, New South Wales on August 10, 1965, aged 51, led a shadowed life working as a labourer after playing just one Test in 1936-37. By making heavy scores with style and panache, Ray Robinson forced his way into the team for the Brisbane match but was dismissed for two and three (out hooking as Australia collapsed to defeat), was demoted to 12th man for the next game and then disappeared from the Test scene. He played later for South Australia, moved back to New South Wales and then went to Otago, but never recovered either the form or the style of his youth.

ST HILL, WILTON H., is believed to have died around 1957, when he would have been 64, but there is no firm evidence of his death - his later years remain mysterious. However, his cricket was immortalised in C. L. R. James's masterwork, Beyond A Boundary, in which he is the subject of a whole chapter. St Hill played in only three Test matches and was a great disappointment when he played in England in 1928. But he was a hero in Trinidad, where both his insouciance and his strokemaking were regarded with awe: he would habitually
walk out to bat smoking a cigarette and would throw it away only after the bowler set his field. James wrote that he saw the ball very early and played it very late, even against bowlers as fast as George John:

"He never appeared to be flurried, never caught in two minds ... I do not remember any more frightening sight at cricket than John running, jumping and letting loose at his terrific pace, and St Hill playing back as if he had known he would have to do so long before the ball was bowled and was somewhat bored by the whole business." Learie Constantine, after watching one of St Hill's early innings, said he had perfect timing.

SMITH, DAVID BERTRAM MILLER, who died at Hawthorn, Victoria on July 29, 1963, aged 78, played in two Tests during the Triangular Tournament in 1912 when Australia played both England and South Africa with a weakened team. He scored only 30 Test runs, averaging 15. He was reported to have been "undisciplined" on a tour on which there were several incidents of drunken brawling and rudeness towards the public and English amateurs. He was summoned by the Board on his return home to explain himself but failed to turn up, pleading illness. He never played first-class cricket again.

SNOOKE, SIBLEY JOHN, died in Port Elizabeth on August 14, 1966, aged 85. "Tip" Snooke played in 26 Tests for South Africa as a stylish right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler. He was a regular member of the side before the First World War, captaining the team in the five-Test series with England in 1909-10. He was recalled and opened the attack against England as a 42-year-old in 1922-23. Snooke scored 1,008 Test runs, making a century against Australia at Adelaide in 1910-11, and took 35 Test wickets. And he had a long first-class career, beginning as a I7-year-old for Border, going on to play for Western Province and Transvaal: 124 matches in all - a huge number for a South African in that era - in which he scored 4,821 runs (average: 25.91) and took 120 wickets at 25.14. He managed the successful 1935 South African side to England. His brother, S. D. Snooke. also played for South Africa and his grandsons, S. J. and W. J. McAdam, both appeared in the Currie Cup.

STEPHENS, ERIC JAMES, died in Gloucester. where he was born, on April 3, 1983, aged 74. "Dick" Stephens played for Gloucestershire as a professional in 216 matches between 1927 and 1937. He was a left-handed bat, occasional medium-paced bowler and an outstanding outfielder. He also played rugby for Gloucester (as fly-half), Southern League soccer and, later, bowls.

STEPHENS, GEORGE WILLIAM, who died on March 17, 1950, aged 60, was an attractive right-hand amateur batsman who played 123 times for Warwickshire between 1907 and 1925, scored four centuries, and captained the side in 1919. His twin brother, Frank, also played for the county.

STRAW, THOMAS, who died at Hucknall Torkard, Nottinghamshire, where he was born, on September 8, 1959, aged 89, was the Worcestershire wicket-keeper and the only man in cricket history to have been dismissed twice for obstructing the field. Both dismissals occurred when he was playing against Warwickshire- The first time, at Worcester in 1899. Straw lofted a ball towards the middle of the pitch and began to run while a fielder. A. C. S. Glover, ran in to try and catch it. They collided and Straw was given out by umpire Mycroft, to the loud disgust of the home crowd who complained that it was accidental. Two years later, at Edgbaston, Straw barged into the wicket-keeper, "Dick" Lilley, as he emerged from behind the stumps to take a simple pop-up catch.

This appears to have been a far more flagrant piece of obstruction; it is possible that Straw, after his earlier dismissal, was taking the mickey. This was his last full season: a hand injury virtually finished his career after he had been Worcestershire's first-choice keeper since 1895, four years before they joined the Championship, though he did play four more games in 1907 before returning to Nottinghamshire and his old job as a miner.

TRAVERS, JOSEPH PATRICK FRANCIS, died in Adelaide. where he was born, on September 15, 1942, aged 71. "Ike" Travers was a lower-order left-hand bat and left-arm spinner who hit a dramatic run of form in the 1900-01 Sheffield Shield, taking 21 wickets in two games for South Australia which included an analysis of nine for 30 when he rolled over Victoria for 76. The following year he was picked for the Fifth Test against England as a late replacement for the injured J. V. Saunders. He bowled only eight overs, taking one for 14, and never played for Australia again. He did continue in the Sheffield Shield: thereafter his bowling declined but his batting improved. In retirement he became a well-known coach and was reportedly instrumental in bringing Don Bradman to South Australia in 1935. Travers thought Bradman's presence would help counteract the growing popularity of tennis and suggested that his salary should be subsidised by up to £750 a year.

VINCENT, CYRIL LEVERTON, who died on August 24, 1968, aged 66, was a left-arm spinner and capable lower-order batsman who played 25 Tests for South Africa between 1927-28 and 1935- However, he only ever played in two Currie Cup matches, apparently because he could not get time off work. He was renowned for bowling long spells tirelessly. At Durban in 1930-31 he took six for 51 against England to secure the rubber for South Africa and he had match figures of eight for 149 in the Headingley Test of 1935. He was later chairman of the South African selectors.

WEBB, ARTHUR STUART, who died on December 3, 1952, aged 84, was a right-handed batsman relying on powerful forearms who was a regular member of the Hampshire team for ten years round the turn of the century. He appeared in 151 matches and scored 5,515 runs, averaging 2L54. His finest innings came in his benefit match, against Surrey, in 1904 when he scored an unbeaten 162 in 270 minutes. Unfortunately, the match was badly affected by rain and Webb's share of the takings was only £150. He later moved to Wales, where he was professional and groundsman at Briton Ferry Steelworks and then coach at Christ College, Brecon.

WHITEHEAD, RALPH, who died on August 23, 1956, aged 72, had one of the most sensational of all first-class debuts. He was 24 and showing progress as a middle-order batsman and medium-fast bowler when Lancashire put him in the first team against Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford in June 1908. Whitehead took three first-innings wickets then came in to bat with Lancashire on 117 for six. He put on 188 with his captain A. H. Hornby and, when the last wicket fell at 352, was left unbeaten on 131 after only three hours batting. Hornby gave him his county cap between innings and, perhaps assuming he was on infallible form, brought him on to bowl very soon. Then everything went wrong. Whitehead was called for throwing four times in his first five balls by the bowler's umpire, Tom Brown. After an exchange of words with the umpire, Hornby withdrew him from the attack and bowled him from the other end next day: Brown called him twice more from square leg. Whitehead survived in cricket; however, he never again made a comparable impact. He went on to play 106 more matches for Lancashire up to 1914, scoring 2,571 runs and taking 300 wickets, apparently without his action being challenged.

WHITTLE, ALBERT EDWARD MARK, who died in the Dorset County Asylum on March 18, 1917, aged 39, was a successful all-rounder for Warwickshire and Somerset between 1900 and 1911 before he became ill. He was a well-built man, aggressive in his batting, who bowled medium-fast and had an unusually long, though sometimes erratic, throw.

WOOD, REGINALD, who died in poverty in Manly, Sydney on January 6, 1915, aged 54, was in the Charterhouse XI of 1876, played six games for Lancashire as an amateur between 1880 and 1884 and played a Test match for England on the 1886-87 tour of Australia. Wood had emigrated to Melbourne and reappeared in first-class cricket for Victoria against Alfred Shaw's English team. Shaw had brought only 11 players, and the First Test at Sydney was marked by a fight between the England player, William Barnes, and the Australian captain, Percy McDonnell. Barnes injured his hand, apparently after missing McDonnell's face and punching a wall. Wood was then co-opted into the Test team: batting No. 10 he scored six and nought, did not bowl and took no catches. He played for Shaw's team against Victoria then disappeared from first-class cricket. He became professional at both East Melbourne and Sydney Albert but was later reported to be working "in a lowly capacity, with sheep". A correspondent in Australia said that at his death he had little more than the clothes he wore and his tuckerbag.